Time to Talk: Identifying the Pressures of Mental Health Awareness

Thankfully over the past 12 months, the light being shone on mental health issues is brighter than ever before. Last year, the London Marathon choseHeads Togetheras its official head charity and theyounger fellows of the Royal Familymade a point throughout the year of launching various campaignsto encourage more people to be open and honest regarding their state of mental health, while this week an amalgamation of businesses, celebrities, and organisations came together to tell thesocial media world that its #TimetoTalk. Mental health holds no barriers and can affect anyone of us at any time, it doesn’t discriminate and even the strongest person you feel you know may be suffering under the surface with what could be a debilitating mental illness.

What’s more concerning however, is that while it’s brilliant that we can come together to talk about mental health, is the distinct lack of support and funding for emergency and social services to provide long-term care that can help individuals cope. The number ofemergency call outs for mental health has increased, pressure on social careis at breaking point so that vulnerable people feel isolated and alone and when a person isadmitted to psychiatric care, they could be potentially moved hundreds of miles away. The need tobreak the stigma of mental healthis stubborn in that many still feeldiscriminated againstwhile many are struggling with their lifestylesbecause there is pressure to constantly achieve, and that’s before you even get started on the role social media and technology now plays. In no uncertain terms, it’s very easy to become discombobulated and lose track of which fight is the most beneficial one to focus your energy on.

When your mood is already far down the scale of negativity, it’s difficult to break through the brick walls and find the light to want to move ahead. But there is always someone or something that can give you the strength to open up and to blossom in the way you deserve. Byproviding knowledge to childrenwe can give a wealth of tools so that they can grow up being compassionate and more open, in theworkplace we can champion someonewho will be on the lookout for warning signs of mental illness andgroups can come togetherto raise the profile of being there when someone needs to talk. At first sight it may seem a maze, but eventually the breadcrumbs will appear, and something is good enough to give someone the strength to reach out for help.

Last year, the London Marathon chose Heads Together as its official head charity and the younger fellows of the Royal Family.

Thetrend of self-careis something that anyone can adopt to provide baby steps in seizing the day, all the while acknowledging that it’s vital to go back to the roots of what makes you happy in order to improve mental well-being. It’s no surprise that the fact we are streamed into the living rooms of our friends and peers, we put unexpected pressure on ourselves than the years before when we blithely plodded along, content in our innocence and disconnect from the second by second breakdown of someone who isn’t us. Finding someone to talk to doesn’t always feel an easy step to take, but it doesn’t have to be a partner or a friend, theSamaritans volunteers have dedicated their livesto be a listening post without judgement and without inciting upset from stigmatising or playing down their state of health.

It’s hard not to write a novel of negativity when assessing the current culture of how we treat mental illness and the frustration of how it feels as the years pass by, things seem to be deteriorating than improving. But for each and every one of us, by finding the strength to speak, together we can provide a community that can open our arms to those who are struggling. It doesn’t have to be agrand gesture to pull someonefrom the depths of drowning, and by simply finding the right person to talk to andunravel their thoughtsso that the pressure of illness is eased. What can you take from all of this? Bang the drums, blow the trumpets, and get behind any little campaign in the mental health community so that slowly we can hammer through the brick wall of stigma and isolation. Yes, we can accept it isn’t straight forward and that it may take time, but there is a world of people stood behind ready to catch when you feel ready to fall. All you have to do is just find the time to talk.

Katie Bagshawe Psychreg’s Health Psychology Correspondent. Katie is currently pursuing her MSc Psychology degree Sheffield Hallam University after completing a BSc Computing degree from the University of Cumbria. After acting as her father’s carer in his final years with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, she has become impassioned to do research in the Psychological impact of Progressive Lung Disease and hopes to continue doing a PhD in the same research area. You can connect with her on Twitter @KBagshawe